Quarter of US women postpone or forego treatment because of cost

More than a quarter (27%) of US women delayed or went without care that they believed they needed in the past year because they could not afford it. That is an increase of 3% from 2001. This central finding came from a survey of 2766 women aged 18 and older by the Kaiser Family Foundation and released as part of a panel discussion on 7 July at their conference centre in Washington, DC.

Much of the focus in the United States has been on people who do not have any health insurance. But the problem goes beyond that to one of copayments, where the patient has to contribute a proportion of the costs, for prescriptions or …